BOV Premier League | Sirens 1 – Senglea Athletic 1

Sirens kicked off their first ever season in the Premier League with a match against Senglea Athletic.

The newly promoted side made a number of signings through-out the summer in order to possess a competitive squad that could compete inside Malta’s top flight.  In addition to the players, Sirens also acquired the services of Steve D’Amato who is a coach with vast experience in the Premier League.

The same can be said for Senglea who last season experienced a campaign filled with ups and downs. However, they also managed to secure the services of a number of players in order to improve their squad. Senglea also changed their coach and appointed Mario Muscat at the helm of the team.

Sirens made a bright start and took the lead on the 40th minute. Emmanuel Okoye fired a shot from outside the penalty area that sailed past Matthew Farrugia.

Senglea hit back in the second half and lost a golden opportunity to equalise on the 78th minute. Ryan Grech brought down Jan Tanti inside the penalty area and the referee pointed towards the spot. However, Wilkson Teixeira saw his shot from the penalty spot being saved by David Cassar.

Despite missing the penalty, Teixeira remained focused and secured a point for his side two minutes later. The Brazilian forward sent a shot that took a deflection off a defender and ended up inside the net.

Sirens starting line-up: David Cassar, Ryan Grech, Wellington de Oliveira, Flavio Cheveresan, Emmanuel Okoye, Siraj Arab, Manuel Angel Bustos, Adrian Borg, Ige Adesina, Sergio Raphael dos Anjos, Romeu Romao

Senglea Athletic starting line-up: Matthew Farrugia, Sigitas Olberkis, Elvis Sakyi, Manolito Micallef, Taisei Marukawa, Wilkson Teixeira, Sean Cipriott, Mirko Todorovic, David Xuereb, Marcelo Dias, Karl Pulo

Referee: Philip Farrugia

Assistant Referees: Jurgen Spiteri, Theodore Zammit

Fourth Official: Alex Johnson

BOV Player of the Match: Sergio Raphael (Sirens)